Caller identification, or caller ID, is a telephony service offered by many telecommunication service providers to enable their customers to identify the calling party of an incoming telephone call (e.g., POTS call, VoIP call, etc.) with a set of identifying information. Typically, the caller identification information of the calling party is transmitted to the receiving party as the incoming telephone call is terminated at the receiving party's premises. The transmitted information is received and then routed to a display screen located on the receiving party's premises. Commonly, such display screens are LCD screens found incorporated in the receiving party's telephone unit, telephone answering machine, dedicated caller ID box, or other devices. Additionally, some spoken caller ID devices have text-to-speech capability that announces the caller identification information when it is available.
Typically, caller identification information comprises the calling party's household or business name, telephone number, and/or city/state location. When this information is transmitted and displayed, the receiving party is given the opportunity to view the caller identification information and identify the calling party prior to answering the incoming telephone call. This service enables the receiving party to screen telephone calls and have the option of answering the call, ignoring the call, or, in some cases, sending the call to voicemail. The caller identification information may be stored at the receiving party's premises, typically within the device displaying the information. An incoming call history log may be retrieved and utilized for returning any missed calls.
Although household or business name, telephone number, and/or city/state information is helpful for identifying the calling party, the information often will not be sufficient to truly identify a calling party (if, for example, the caller identification information includes only a telephone number, and the receiving party cannot easily recall the identity of the person with that telephone number). Moreover, even if recognizable, such information is not personalized by the calling party, which may be preferred in many settings. For instance, a personalized audio-visual caller identification information message could be in a foreign language or visual cue that is communicable to the receiving party. The traditional caller identification schemes do not convey personalized identification cues such as visual, video or voice associated with the calling party. Additionally, retrieving traditional caller identification information above requires the receiving party to first locate and access the display unit, which can be inconvenient and may result in missed calls.
Hence, there is a need for more robust caller identification technologies.